The purpose of the wood block was to keep the grips from being broke during shipping. That block is original to the package from Colt it is something that was not added later. That is a key little piece that is almost always missing. This is one of my all time favorite guns in my collection. Another cool factor is the gun is a first year gun.
The late Marty Huber, Historian Emeritus at Colt, told me that he was working in the shipping department in 1938 and they started getting complaints about the new MTs arriving with broken grips. He suggested adding a wood block between the ears to protect them, and the rest is history.
